Ex-Tiger Evan Reed Gets 1 Year Probation, Community Service After Plea In Assault Case
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - Ex-Detroit Tigers pitcher Evan Reed has been sentenced to a year of probation after pleading no contest to misdemeanor aggravated assault.
The 29-year-old didn't comment at Friday's hearing, where he was ordered to perform 120 hours of community service and pay $4,480 in restitution. He earlier entered the plea in an agreement with prosecutors to resolve a sexual assault case. As part of the deal, two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct were dropped.
A no contest plea isn't an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing.
Reed was accused of assaulting a woman in a hotel room at Motor City Casino in March of 2014.
The 45-year-old victim claimed that someone slipped a drug into her drink after she met Reed at a Royal Oak bar the night before Opening Day. In a pre-trial hearing, the woman testified that she blacked out and woke up naked in bed with Reed. On the stand, the woman then offered some unsettling details as to what allegedly happened next.
[Victim Testifies She Woke Up Dizzy, In Pain Following Alleged Attack By Evan Reed]
Reed admitted, as is seen in a security video shown in court, that he helped carry the woman inside the casino — but he insisted they had consensual sex.
Reed, who now lives in California, was facing two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct after prosecutors successfully appealed an earlier judge's decision to dismiss the charges. The sex charges carried a 15-year maximum penalty.
In dismissing the charges last fall, Judge Kenneth King said there's no doubt the woman was incapacitated when she entered the hotel with Reed; "The problem is what happened in that hotel room … no one knows," he said.
King pointed out that the woman had lied about little things, like claiming she hadn't known Reed was a Tiger — when a text to a friend showed that she did.
The victim is upset that Reed will not serve time in jail.
The outcome also concerns Beth Morrison, CEO of Haven Domestic Violence Shelter.
"What happens in a lot of these cases, and maybe it's that kinda that unintended consequence," said Morrison, "when one case has an outcome that is disappointing — and it's certainly disappointing for this woman — is that is does potentially send messages to others that you won't be believed, the person is going to get away with it, they're not going to be held fully accountable."
Reed, currently a free agent, appeared in 32 games for Detroit last season and 17 games with Triple-A Toledo.
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